Discovery Tower Peaks with a Mini Wind Farm [S2]

Construction just began on what could be one of the most innovative office towers in the U.S. Located at 1501 McKinney Street in Houston, Discovery Tower is a 30 story office building that will cost upwards near $300 million to build. And as you can tell from the above renderings, the pinnacle was designed to have 10 wind turbines. But that’s not just some fancy, green add-on to an otherwise generic building. Discovery Tower will be built to achieve LEED Gold certification from the USGBC.

With construction set to finish in the second quarter of 2010, the Gensler-designed green skyscraper will have air filtration, water-efficient plumbing, and an energy efficient heating and cooling system, among other things.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the "mini wind farm should also make a huge design statement and help market the building, as more companies look for space where their employees can breathe cleaner air and feel that their bosses care about the environment by leasing energy-efficient digs." Also CBRE.

It’s a cool idea that we’ve seen in different variations with Bahrain WTC, COR, Hamiltons Castle House, and Pearl River Tower. I agree with you that it’s great to integrate turbines in the design, although some commentators have raised issues of noise and vibration. It seems the architects have this issue worked out, however.